No evidence of shooting after SWAT standoff ends in Lafayette

Police surround house for more than 4 hours after reported break-in

A SWAT standoff in Lafayette lasted more than four hours Wednesday after a woman reported two men had broken into her house and fired three gunshots.

But when police finally entered the home, they didn't find anyone — or any evidence that shots had been fired.

Police responded to a 911 call at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the 700 block of E. Geneseo Street after a woman said two men she didn't recognize tried to break into her home, according to Lafayette police Sgt. John Sellers.

Sellers said police responded in about two minutes, and were able to establish a perimeter before convincing the woman and her two children to get out of the house. None of the three were injured.

Boulder County SWAT officers are seen outside a home in the 700 block of East Geneseo Street in Lafayette on Wednesday. Police believed suspects in an armed break-in may have been inside, but they were not. (Paul Aiken / Staff Photographer)

Police and SWAT officers surrounded the house and for several hours while they used robots and drones in an attempt to determine whether anyone was inside.

Geneseo Street was closed in that area and police made a reverse-911 call to notify neighbors about the situation, telling them to shelter in place.

Neighbor Fran McCarty said she thought she heard a weapon being fired.

"It sounded like gunshots to me," McCarty said.

But around 2:30 p.m., police made entry into the house, and did not find anyone inside or any evidence that shots had been fired.

Police said the report of the shooting "has not been substantiated" at this time, and they do not believe there is a threat to the community.

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However, in the course of the investigation, police arrested Michael Gipson, 39, at a separate location on an unrelated warrant that stemmed form a previous domestic violence incident involving the woman who reported the break-in.

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